Flame Lily News and Views

Good news for NRZCPF pensioners.

The NRZCPF plans to recommence pension payments to members from July 2011. They require each member to complete a Certificate of Life and to submit this, together with their banking details (including bank authorisation for remitting funds abroad, if known).

A member sent us the following informtion which she received from the NRZCPF:

“Please be advised that we are in the process of updating our records with a view to start paying foreign based pensioners their pensions; including arrears dating back to 1999 / 2000 when we last paid. We hope to make this first payment in July 2011. We have already sent out life certificates and a message regarding this development. It is important that members respond as soon as possible in order for us to include them in the July pay run.”

Additional information received from the NRZCPF on 7 September reads as follows:

“We are only actioning pensions for those pensioners who signed life certificates after May 2011. This was a special life certificate exercise. The annual exercise is done with the August payroll and these have also been sent out. 

“Our bank has just informed us that it is a requirement in South Africa for pensioners’ phone numbers to be supplied when payments are made. So please pass on the message. We are also to supply the full first names and surnames, not initials.”

The FLF was asked to inform a pensioner’s widow that there is back pay from the time the NRZCPF last paid the person up to date of death. She needs to now furnish the NRZPF with all the details including a certified copy of the death certificate.

Contact details for the major banks in Zimbabwe are as follows:

Standard Bank    jeremiah.msabengana@sc.com.

Barclays Bank  takalani.bvunzawabaya@barclays.com

ZB Bank            pmusakanvi@zb.co.zw

Stanbic Bank    taulom@stanbic.com

Zimbabwe Government Pensions

The Pensions Office has captured the data the FLF sent to them, and is now ready to commence pension payments. (These will probably be based on a pensioner’s grade on retirement, and not the full pension.) However, the Director of Pensions has informed the FLF that the government still needs to establish a modality for disbursing pensions to individual bank accounts in South Africa and elsewhere.
With the help of volunteers, we have processed over 800 applications since 2008. Those who submitted their documents to us for onward transmission will be the first to receive their money when payments are resumed.
The Director of Pensions is now looking into which bank or finance house is prepared to receive pension funds in bulk, and disburse pension payments monthly to individual bank accounts. The ideal would be for one bank or finance house with branches worldwide to undertake this, in the same way as Crown Agents in the UK does for pensioners of the former Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
An article published in the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper of 16 December 2010 stated, inter alia, “The ministry has since asked the country’s foreign embassies to assist in collecting information from pensioners as only 1 300 of the 5 600 had responded to their call”. We are delighted to know that the intention to resume pension payments to the “Diaspora” has been officially made known to the public, both in the article attached and in The Herald of 5 January 2011.
It seems that the request from the Public Service Minister has not yet reached the embassy in Pretoria. In any case, it is not clear in the article what is expected of the embassies. We have asked the Director of Pensions to clarify what the FLF’s role should be henceforth.
If the FLF is expected to process application forms for the Pensions Office, as we have done at considerable cost, both in money and in volunteers’ time, we will need remuneration. If this is not forthcoming from the Zimbabwe government, the FLF will have to ask applicants for a donation in future, unless they are FLF members.

Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Conservative): I should like to bring to the House’s attention the plight of former public sector workers in Zimbabwe, when it was Southern Rhodesia. Their pensions have not been paid for some considerable time — almost eight years, since 2003. Today I ask the Minister to consider what he can do for the aid fund to help those individuals, UK citizens among them, to regain their pensions.

The Minister will be familiar with the history of the case. Between 12 December 1979 and 17 April 1980, Southern Rhodesia was ruled directly by the UK. The pension fund that then existed was a consolidated revenue fund with no trustees. That meant that Her Majesty’s Government, who effectively took on responsibility for the fund when they were in government in Southern Rhodesia for that very short period, had a duty of care. On Zimbabwe’s independence, the UK Government were concerned to ensure that appropriate provisions were made, and they believed that there were full safeguards in the new constitution for the pension arrangements of former public sector workers. The reality, however, was rather different.

In February 2003, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe failed to make foreign currency available for those pension payments, which was in breach of paragraph 2(1) of schedule 6 and section 112 of the constitution. A number of requests have been made to secure the restarting of the pension payments and, as I understand it, in September 2009 the director of the Zimbabwean Government’s pensions office indicated that $3.5 million might be available and asked for applications from previous public sector workers now living in South Africa, Australia or the UK. So far, 850 applications have been received from those now living in South Africa and 350 from individuals in the UK. They are represented by a body called the Overseas Service Pensioners’ Association, which for many years has been championing the cause of getting the pensions payments started again.

OSPA has tried to establish how many individuals are affected across the world, and the best estimate is 1,200. There are different estimates, but OSPA believes that that is the right figure. That is relevant because until we understand how many people are affected, it is hard to quantify the figures that we are talking about and therefore reach a ballpark estimate of how much help we are seeking from the Minister and his aid budget.

Having reached that number and examined the applications already received, OSPA has calculated that if it allows for a reduction of one third for options of commutation, which most pensioners have taken up, and then uprates the figure to reflect the increase in the retail prices index, the appropriate annual figure to cover all individuals affected would be £4 million. It has made the same calculation for the back payment, which comes to £26 million. OSPA is realistic and recognises that there is no real chance of getting the back payment, but it would like some support from the Government to help it at least to reinstate the old pension amount.

OSPA would like the Government to work with the Zimbabwean Government to identify whether they really do now intend to make sums available, and to consider setting up a review of what the Department for International Development can do, using its aid budget or any other source of funds, to put the individuals affected back in pocket. They are ageing, so if we do not do something shortly, the money will not have the value to them that it should.

We have no evidence that non-resident pensions were in fact paid into a holding account prior to US-dollarization, as previously stated. However, this is the explanation given as to why there are no accumulated funds since payment to non-resident pensioners ceased in 2003. We have been told that pensioners’ funds that were in a holding account simply disappeared with the removal of 25 zeros caused by hyper-inflation.

Zimbabwe Government Pensions

FLF National Secretary, John Redfern, had a telephone conversation with the Director of Pensions, Sylvester Mnkandla, on 12 January. Mnkandla said many of his staff were still on leave, so there had been little progress since the first batch of 524 completed forms from the FLF reached him in December. Although he said that the new Widow’s application form is now available and would be sent to the FLF, none has yet arrived. The second batch of completed forms (as many as could be accepted for the Zimbabwe Embassy’s diplomatic bag) was sent to the Pensions Office on 29 January.

Another batch has been held over for the next dispatch. We have had requests for several Certificate of Life and Banking forms from pensioners who have been widowed since pension payments ceased. We will deal with these as soon as we have the new Widow’s application form. We know of two individuals who have received letters from the Pensions Ombudsman, saying that pension payments to non-resident pensioners were expected to resume shortly. However, there appear to be at least two obstacles that have to be overcome before this happens. One is selection and approval for a specific agency to receive amounts for electronic transfer thereafter to individual pensioners, as is currently done by Crown Agents for Federal pensions. The Pensions Office has confirmed that RBZ authority is not needed for the payment of Zimbabwe Government pensions outside the country. (Some other pension funds have already started paying their members outside Zimbabwe.)

We have already received completed documents from an estimated one-third of all Zim government service pensioners living in South Africa. Only when we see some results, will we move to the next phase.

Payment can be made into a pensioner’s non-resident bank account in Zimbabwe, on request to the Pensions Office. However, it is then up to the account holder to arrange the transfer of funds, which incurs considerable bank charges and/or commission at both ends.

The FLF office will be closed until 8 January 2010. Only urgent matters or emergencies will be dealt with until then. Most of the completed forms and related documents received from Zimbabwe government pensioners by 25 November have been sent to the Pensions Office in Harare.

Assistance to Zimbabwe government pensioners will resume in January. Forms for completion by South African residents can then be obtained by sending a stamped return-addressed envelope to the FLF, or as an email attachment, on request.

Flame Lily Foundation
PO Box 95474
0145 Waterkloof

Tel: 012 4602066
Fax: 086 6484794
Email: rasa@iafrica.com

The Zimbabwe Government’s Director of Pensions approached the Flame Lily Foundation (FLF) in April 2009, asking if we could assist the Pensions Office to reach pensioners in South Africa, in anticipation of pensionpayments being resumed. The exercise for this was started in October. The FLF works closely with OSPA (the Overseas Service Pensioners Association) in the UK, who are doing a similar exercise for pensioners other than those living in South Africa.There are two forms that must be completed before pension payments can be resumed, as follows:

• Certificate of Life;

• Bankers Automated Clearing Service.

These forms are obtainable as PDF attachments from the FLF. Email: rasa@iafrica.com.

You should also attach to the Certificate of Life a note giving:

• your date of entry into Government service;

• your date of retirement from that service;

• your job title, rank or grade in which Department at time of your retirement.

The Pensions Office has asked that you should also submit a certified copy of your National Registration metal card issued in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, or of your passport (the page with your photograph), regardless of nationality. Please DO NOT send a copy of your South African ID. Please return completed forms, together with associated documents, to the FLF office by post (scanned or faxed copies are NOT acceptable).

If you are a widow, and were not in receipt of a Widow’s Pension before pension payments ceased in 2003, you will also need to complete a new four-page application form, and provide two certified copies each of your marriage certificate and your late husband’s death certificate. The new form should be available in 2010.The FLF has agreed to receive completed documents and to send them on by secure means to the Government Pensions Office in Harare. We anticipate a cut-off date of 30 November 2009, after which it may be up to individual pensioners to deal direct with the Pensions Office, unless we resume the exercise in 2010.I regret we cannot engage in continuing exchange with pensioners unless they are FLF members.

Note: If you are not a member of the FLF you may not be aware that the FLF has been in direct contact with the Director of Pensions since 1999, to assist pensioners who are FLF members with their queries and various pension problems. After pension payments ceased altogether in 2003, the FLF established the Zimbabwe Pensioners Association (ZPA) to address the situation. This resulted in Project Grateful Gran, whereby pensioners considered to be in greatest need of assistance now receive quarterly grants. Those who were employed by Government prior to 11 November 1965 (other than military pensioners), are receiving grants from the OSPBS (Overseas Service Pensioners Benevolent Society) through the FLF.

On 6 April 2009, the FLF received an email from the Zimbabwe Director of Pensions, in which he wrote as follows: “We now have an inclusive Government trying to put things back to normal. In the event that the situation indeed returns to normal and we are once again in a position to pay pensioners resident outside of Zimbabwe their pensions, would your organisation be in a position to assist us re‑establish contact with pensioners in South Africa?”

We responded by asking how we might help, and we await further advice from Zimbabwe. In anticipation of pension payments coming on line again, the FLF has updated the Zimbabwe Pensioners Association (ZPA) questionnaire for pensioners, which can be accessed on our website, under Services. Any Zimbabwe pensioner living in South Africa who has not yet sent us their pension details is invited to register with the ZPA. Those who have provided their particulars since the database was established in 2004 are asked to notify us of any changes that might since have occurred, such as change of address or death of a spouse. This information should be addressed to the ZPA at our address on the ZPA page under Services.

In addition to assisting the Zimbabwe government pensions office, the FLF is willing to assist other Zimbabwe pension funds to reach their members in South Africa. We have made contact with Old Mutual’s Pencare and are pleased to publish their response, as follows:

“We anticipate to resume all pension payments for locals and non‑residents in June 2009 provided they furnish with our requirements. The non‑residents who had emigrated formally through commercial banks should not furnish us with a local FCA. We will pay them through the banks that handled their emigration formalities.”

By Eddie Cross 

In the late 90’s the Government of Zimbabwe held a conference on land reform in Zimbabwe.  Broad agreement was reached between the State, the stakeholders and international aid agencies but the agreement was never implemented.  Two years later, in an attempt to destroy the opposition base on commercial farms, the State began what it eventually called the “Fast Track Land Reform” exercise.

They justified this programme to the rest of the world by arguing that they were redressing historical injustices and racial imbalances in the ownership of the land.  The reform programme ignored the legal situation prevailing in respect to farm ownership and it also ignored the issue of fair and reasonable compensation for assets taken over by the State.

The legal position was quite straight forward - commercial farmers held full freehold title and in over 80 per cent of cases, also held a “certificate of no interest” issued by the Zimbabwe government allowing them to buy the farms on the open market after 1980.  Such a requirement was mandatory - in order to enable the State to acquire the farms if they so wished, on a willing seller, willing buyer basis.  Some 3,8 million hectares of farmland was in fact acquired in this way since 1980.

Farmers holding both the title and the certificates held an unassailable legal right to the land and all improvements.  By so doing they held the right to receive in full, the market value of such assets when they were sold, less any bond obligations to banks.

In the following 8 years, thousands of farms were “acquired” with the regime changing the law every time a farmer or group of farmers secured legal judgements in their favour.  Eventually a group of farmers took their case to the SADC Legal Tribunal in Windhoek, Namibia where they initially obtained a decision saying that they had the right to go to the Tribunal on the issue (the State had apposed the action) and subsequently secured a ruling in favour of the farmers - instructing the Government of Zimbabwe to protect the farmers legal rights.

One small group of affected farmers also enjoyed the protection of a “Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement” signed between the Government of Zimbabwe and the farmers home Government.  A group of farmers of Dutch origin who had invested after Independence and were protected by the BIPA took their case to the international Courts in the Hague.  Last week the highest legal tribunal in the world ruled in favour of the Dutch investors and granted them nearly 22 million dollars in compensation, payable in 90 days.

The attitude of the regime towards the farm acquisitions was quite straight forward.  They were “taking the farms” from their owners.  They simply went to a nominated agency or individual and obtained an “offer letter” which then allowed the “beneficiary” the right to take occupation.  No protection was afforded to the owner or his staff and no interference was permitted, as the operation was considered “political”.  In the majority of cases force was used - mainly in the form of groups of young, politically motivated thugs who acted on behalf of the “beneficiary”.  Once the owners and their senior staff had been evicted, the new farmers took occupation and took advantage of the assets and even standing crops and livestock on the farms.

Many elderly and outstanding farmers were evicted in this way - leaving some of them so traumatised that they never recovered.  One such farmer, Keith Harvey, was evicted from his cattle ranch in the midlands and subsequently went into a cationic coma for two years before he eventually died.  He was a former chairman of the Natural Resources Board and a life long conservationist.  A fine cattleman and a person of great integrity and commitment to the country of his birth.

But no estimate has yet been made of just what the disruption of commercial farms has cost us and I asked economists in the farming industry to let me have the numbers.  Even I was shocked by the statistics.  In 2000 the total output of the agricultural industry in Zimbabwe was 4,3 million tonnes of agricultural products worth at today’s prices US$3,347 billion.  This has declined to just over 1,348 million tonnes of products in 2009 worth US$1 billion - a decline of 69 per cent in volume and a decline of 70 per cent in value.

What is often not appreciated is that smallholder farmers have been just as badly affected by the collapse of the industry as the large scale commercial farmers.  Their production in the past season is estimated to have decline by 73 per cent over that achieved in the year 2000.  This is on top of the forced displacement and loss of employment for 250 000 people and their 1,3 million dependents on commercial farms.

Despite these stunning figures the farm invasions have continued with 480 incidents on remaining farms recorded since the GPA was signed in September last year.  Even those farms that were granted legal protection by the SADC Tribunal have been specifically targeted on a punitive basis by the elements that are carrying on with this illegal activity and in fact are openly defying the SADC decisions.  The international decision is enforceable and creates very significant challenges for the new Transitional Government. Estimates put the total value of potential legal claims at US$5 billion dollars, some 30 per cent more than current GDP.

It is quite clear that the reform programme pursued by the Zanu PF led regime since 1998 has been a costly failure.  This is demonstrated when it is appreciated that over 90 per cent of all production from commercial farms in the past season has emanated from the remaining large scale farmers who are now being disrupted.  There are reports that over half of all the farms taken over are in fact now derelict and abandoned.  Many of the individuals now “taking” farms are doing so for the third or fourth time.  The fact that sugar production in the lowveld, on highly developed irrigation estates, has declined by 35 per cent - almost all of the decline outside of the control of the core Estates of Triangle and Hippo is due to illegal land occupations.

It is time to accept that the past policies on land have been a failure and that it is time to rethink and to put policies in place that will give all farmers security and enable then to finance their operations properly.  Such policies cannot be implemented until the issue of the rights of farm owners is resolved and the issue of compensation addressed.  The combined costs of the folly of the land invasions are staggering - they include US$2,8 billion in international food aid on an emergency basis, nearly US$12 billion in lost agricultural production over 10 years and now a potential bill for US$5 billion in compensation - a total of US$20 billion dollars.

And now we are asking for billions of dollars to fix this self-inflicted damage - its bizarre.

Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 28th April 2009